PAST .. always comes to haunt and destroy the PRESENT .. that make change in FUTURE .. !!
                            — Jakia Mazumdar

"In the name of Je—" A loud blaring sound disrupted Dora's prayers.

Dora muttered a few words under her breath. And her prayer came to a close. She closed her Bible and rose from her kneeling position.

The phone vibrated in her hands as she picked it up.

"Hello; good morning, Kemi," she answered and she sat at the edge of her bed.

For unknown reasons fear burned through her body.

"Good Morning, Adaora! I called to inform you that I have some news concerning the court hearing."

"Oh, okay!" Dora clenched the phone. "Should I meet you in the office?"

"No! I was thinking we should have lunch at our former spot. And then talk about it." Kemi gave an excited laugh.

Dora thought for a moment before she finally said, "Okay, no problem. I will meet you there. What time?"

"Great; 3 o'clock should work."

"Okay, that's fine; I would have closed from work by then."

"Nice! So see you later! Bye." Kemi rushed out as voices filled the background.

"Bye!" Dora muttered and the line went dead.

She sighed and placed the phone beside her.

She dragged her hand down her face as her mind became muddled with thoughts.

Her eyes closed and she whispered a few words of prayer asking for grace and strength.

Her eyes popped open and she gazed at the rays of the rising sun that peeked through the closed curtains.

The day had begun and it was time to take it on.

She slipped into her flip-flops and strolled out the room.

As she walked down the hallway, a sweet scent beckoned her over.

She followed the scent and it carried her to the entrance of the kitchen.

She ambled in and the view that welcomed her brought a smile to her face.

Tara was humming happily as she stirred something on the cooker.

"Good morning, dear," she said with joy visible in her voice.

"Good Morning, Mom!" Tara sent Dora a smile over her shoulder. "How was your night?"

"As good as it could be!" Her slippers slapped on the tiles as she stepped further in. "How was yours?"

"It was nice!" Tara's smile didn't waver.

Dora nodded with a smile as she crossed over to Tara.

"Hmm, scrambled eggs and toast!" She inhaled the delicious smell. "What are we celebrating?" she asked with a grin.

Tara chuckled as she turned off the fire. "Well, nothing special. However, I believe every day of our lives is something special." She grinned and placed steaming dishes on the kitchen table.

"You are right. We have so much to be thankful for us," Dora asserted as she helped set the table.

"Exactly! We have been blessed beyond our imagination."

"Very true!" Dora grinned at the wisdom of her daughter. However, she couldn't fully relax as the recent events hovered at the back of her mind.

Dora stilled as Tara looked at her with a thoughtful expression. Her brows scrunched up as Tara dropped a plate and moved towards her.

Unease crept up her spine when Tara placed a gentle hand on her arm.

"I know you will not say it, but I know you are worried that man and the divorce drama will drag us back to where we were before." Tara gave a small sad smile.

"You are afraid that it will give us new wounds and reopen the old wounds, am I right?" Empathy shimmered in her eyes.

Dora's eyes blurred with tears. Her heart bled as she could not avoid the glaring truth.

She silently nodded as her cheeks grew wet.

Tara gave another smile. "I know how you feel; I felt the same way when you told me everything about the divorce." She squeezed her mother's arm.

"However, let me say this; with God on our side, we will fight every obstacle that wants to quench our fire of starting afresh." Conviction gleamed in Tara's eyes.

Dora smiled through tears. She wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Thank you for your encouragement. I am glad to have you as my daughter." She squeezed her.

"And I am glad to have you as my mother. You have always been strong for me so I will be strong for you." Tara held her tighter and pulled back.

"And I think that's enough tears for today," Tara said as she wiped her eyes.
"Our meal is getting cold." She pulled out a chair and sat down.

Dora smiled and pulled out a chair across from Tara and sat down.

After a quick prayer, the women dug in and filled their stomachs with sustenance to keep them going through the bumps of the day.

             ★★★★★★★

A few hours later. . .

Dora pushed the door open and slipped out of the vehicle.

Payments were made and the taxi zoomed off leaving a trail of smoke behind.

She whirled around to face a building with large windows.

The peeling green paint spoke of its history and age.

She took a deep breath and climbed up the steps. The bell above the door jingled as she stepped in.

The fragrance of cinnamon and vanilla wafted through her nose.

No one could beat the pastries they made here.

A sense of nostalgia washed over her as she stared at the faded yellow walls. Walls that had shielded her during her college days.

Her eyes stopped on the stained tiles, the peeling red tables with chipped edges, and the handwritten board of different dishes and delicacies.

Nothing seemed to have changed.

She sighed and sauntered over to a table for two in the right-hand corner.
A blessing it was for her to have a view of the outside world through the window.

She looked up at the oval-shaped clock that hung on the opposite wall.

"3: 10 PM," she read out and she hoped Kemi would arrive soon.

A smiling waitress came over to ask for her order.

Dora stumbled over her words as she debated on what to do. Finally, she ordered a bottle of water which she sipped on while she waited. 

Rapidly, ten minutes turned to twenty minutes, and still no sign of Kemi

With each passing minute, Dora's anxiety rose.

Finally, Kemi scampered in looking frazzled. Her jacket was askew and her hair looked wind-beaten.

"I am so sorry! My meeting got delayed." She smiled apologetically and took the seat opposite Dora.

Her eyes scanned the place and she grinned. "Oh my, it is so nice to be back here. It's been over ten years." She giggled.

Dora wordlessly smiled. So many things were running through her mind and she couldn't concentrate on one.

A low chuckle drew her attention. She turned to face Kemi who was staring at her with amusement dancing in her eyes.

Dora's brows drew together as she waited for Kemi to say something.

Kemi chuckled again and gestured to Dora's hand.

Dora looked at her hand and realized that she had been absently drumming on the table.

Her cheeks warmed in embarrassment.

Kemi laughed and said, "I see you are not here for small talk; so I guess we should get down to business, right?"

Dora nodded. She wanted to hear the news. Good or bad.

Kemi sighed. "So the first court hearing is six weeks from now," she announced as she produced a file.

"Oh, okay!" Dora frowned as she struggled to digest the information.

Waves of different emotions washed over her.

But one emotion was dominated: worry. 

"Why so far away?" she whispered as she stared at her friend and lawyer from beneath her eyelids.

"Because unfortunately, they have a backlog of pending cases." She smiled sadly.

Dora nodded in understanding or more in resignation at the situation.

"But all is not lost," Kemi suddenly said with a bright smile.

Dora arched a brow in questioning.

Kemi laughed. "We have the opportunity and time to prepare everything for our case to be strong." She grinned.

Curiosity roiled in her mind. "What preparations do we need to make?" She leaned over.

"We need more evidence!"

"More evidence?" Dora's frown deepened.

"Yes, more evidence! We need a doctor's report to show how severe your wounds were." A gleam shone in Kemi's eyes. "And we need an eye witness to his abuse."

"Eye witness!?" Dora repeated as she reeled over the piece of information.

Her heart raced as she thought about an eyewitness.

Nausea rose to her throat as her mind went to one person.

A person whose entrance will scratch old wounds.

                    ★★★★★★
Ooh, snazzy! An entry of a new character 😏

Who do you all imagine the person could be? 😂
I will sincerely love to know what comes to your minds concerning the mystery person 😂
So fill the comments section with your thoughts. XD

And now that the year is coming to an end. A question came to mind. And I would love to share the question and answer with you.
So Our Question Of The Chapter is: So far, which year has been your favorite? And why is it your favorite?

Well, the answer that came to me after weighing everything is that surprisingly, 2020 was my favorite year😂
I know right? I am weird😂🤭
But some things happened last year that I enjoyed. And they are: I  launched my writing career and I made some great friends😁

And another announcement is that I plan on trying my hands in another genre. So in a few weeks, I will be posting a Dystopian novel called The Refuge. So watch out for other announcements on my message board.
I hope for your support ❤❤

With that said, don't forget to 👇

Until next time, enjoy the remaining days of the year ❤❤